New game perks unlocked - an in-person transatlantic delivery by @fortcircle.bsky.social Now off to Hunt for Blackbeard in @volko.bsky.social hidden movement game. Also, great time with Time of Troubles and 30 Years of Misery at Baltic Wargaming Convention in Helsinki.

First student prototypes of the year! From civilian resilience to evacuation to Klaipėda Revolt of 1923. A great start, looking forward to see how they develop in the coming months.

A book that survived fire – by losing its first page. The Brest Bible (1563) is one of the most remarkable witnesses of the Reformation in Lithuania. Printed in Brest (Brasta), it was the first full Bible translation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a vernacular language – Polish.🧵

First learning session of Battlegroup Clash: Baltics by James Buckley and Sapper Studio. I really like this new trend in professional games turning to commercial ones. Sync matrices, hexless maps, EW - they're all here in BCB.

A great start into a busy weekend and upcoming week at the Command and Staff College. Playing Pax Pamir with Damla, Natalia and Pijus today. @pijusk.bsky.social won via instability, which I didn't see coming in that moment. Such a great game and always fun to play and chat with #wargaming buddies!

Today marks Lithuania's Restoration of the State Day today and @fluxogames.bsky.social released a game on one of the key culturally painful moments' in the country's history - ban on Lithuanian publications in Latin alphabet by the tsarist government. What did we do? Started smuggling books, ofc.

Save 20% on Book Smugglers on Steam

Smuggle banned books to save the Nation! Make tough choices, manage resources, and decipher secret messages in this narrative adventure based on true events. Help preserve a forbidden language - one d...

store.steampowered.com

Wargame design can benefit a lot from learning from other social science modelling approaches, especially from game theory. Today, I had a pleasure to talk about wargaming and game theory at wargaming course at Alti Studi Difesa.

ISM University's wargaming in 2025 ended with four sessions on Lithuania's development over 25 coming years. Each involved 12 players from business, legal, academia, culture, other sectors. They played as national and municipal government, business, labour, culture and education, and hostile forces.

And here's a personal After Action Report for Connections UK at Armchair Dragoons. It was a great event, and my only regret is that my flight was early afternoon on the last day. Available here: armchairdragoons.com/cnxuk25-aar/

Last semester we had a Churchill day in the class, and here's the write up of why it works in the educational context.

GMT Games@gmtgames.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Check out our latest InsideGMT article from Pijus Kruminas: "Churchill in the Classroom" @pijusk.bsky.social insidegmt.com/churchill-in...

We visited the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, and now I think we had a vampire infestation in Vilnius sometime before late 17th century...

Please please please everyone (pls reskeet) who is involved with a uni/college academic program (broadly speaking) conected to games Could you write a quick comment + links if any apply to what you and your institution are doing in that sphere? I need to show what's out there. 1/ #AncientBluesky 🗃️

I've met @icurtiss.bsky.social at Connections UK last year, where we talked about wargaming as a modelling method, risk gaming and his scenarios for Lux Capital. A couple of weeks ago, we sat down online to talk about these topics, students' games, and other war/riskgaming matters. Enjoy!

The global future of wargaming in Lithuania

open.spotify.com

“the story of the #crossbronxexpressway is a lens through which we can better understand our modern world.” pre-orders charging means the game ships soon. i recorded a podcast called endnotes to hold folk over while they wait for it to arrive. @gmtgames.bsky.social [ link below]

Previous week was spent at Connections UK, representing the Wargaming Lab of ISM. Some takeaways. First, it's always great to meet old friends and find new ones! Wargaming community is very welcoming, and I'm glad that Connections UK continue to hold sessions specifically dedicated to newcomers.

When you want to quickly search for something about the rules, and Google LLM decides to help.

University wargaming in the new academic started! La Coruña scenario from Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars by @mropla.bsky.social The French struggles for most of the time, but managed to deal fatal blows just before the night descended.

String puppet X-rays are best X-rays. Pre-WW2 marionettes by Stasis Ušinskas, a Lithuanian artist who worked with animation, string puppets, stained glass, theatre productions, paintings, and other forms of art.

Yesterday, participants of the Students to Government project ran by the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania got a chance to play a tabletop game on interest management, agenda setting, and coalition building. How do interest groups form coalitions when considering potential laws?

I'm very much looking forward to this game. It has a platoon level system with drone and EW. It accounts for planning using Sync Matrices. It has huge educational value. Finally, it's set in the Baltics, making the game very relevant for our context. So, yes, I'm definitely pre-ordering.

James Buckley@jsbuckley.bsky.social · last yr.

Pre-orders now open for Battlegroup Clash: Baltics www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr This tactical land combat game covers a Russian invasion of Estonia in the present day. It is unique: a game for professionals, but also designed to be accessible to, and played by, hobby gamers. Order now for 30% off!

Latin. I had free credits at the end of my undergrad studies and spent them on two semesters of Latin, one full hour everyday. It was amazing and now helps at pub quizzes.

David M. Perry@lollardfish.bsky.social · last yr.

What was your favorite early clas NOT in your eventual major. Mine was Ethnomusicology: an introduction to folk music.

I fully agree with @letsplayhistory.bsky.social The support in the wargaming community is amazing and we can do still more to get people into wargaming and connect them. Without Jan bringing the people together this project wouldn't have happened, people like Jan make this community so welcoming.

Jan (he/him) | Let's Play History@letsplayhistory.bsky.social · last yr.

It's awesome to see that this project materialized after all the planning. Sad I couldn't join, but great to see the next generation of wargamers. The #wargaming community is such a welcoming and supportive network and we need to grow it further, reach more audiences and establish the method.

When we started Wargaming Lab at ISM last September, one of the aims was to build and foster international collaboration with our Allies. I'm extremely happy that last week we saw the first German-Lithuanian wargaming summer school organized together with The German Wargaming Center.

This story of language colonialism is an important one, and I'm glad that @fluxogames.bsky.social chose to explore it in a video game format. Looking forward to the release.

Historical Games Network@historygamesnet.bsky.social · last yr.

The HGN team recently chatted with Rytis Jadzevicius of @fluxogames.bsky.social about their upcoming game, Book Smugglers. A decision-driven, point-and-click adventure set in 19thC Lithuania, the game blends resource management with historical storytelling: www.historicalgames.net/interview-wi...

If you are interested, you can order my book now at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Castillon-Ha... It should be available from other online shops soon and in the US in September.

Castillon

The Battle of Castillon, fought outside the French city of the same name on 17 July 1453, was the final battle in the Hundred Years…

pen-and-sword.co.uk

Wargaming helps to meet the most interesting people,wherever you go. In Osaka, I had a pleasure to meet wargame designer, publisher and Banzai magazine editor Yasushi Nakaguro and learn so much about topics as broad as wargaming and board gaming in Japan to language and economics.

Hunt for Blackbeard by @volko.bsky.social was the first game I playtested ever, both on a homemade physical copy and Vassal. Before the physical release, kindly thanks to @fortcircle.bsky.social and @ccxvii.bsky.social, this gem of a game is now available on Rally the Troops!

Second play of Winter Rabbit by @willmthompson.bsky.social The Wolf and the Deer tried to prepare the village for winter, but the Rabbit outsmarted everyone. Now it's getting personal, Mr. Rabbit.

This year I taught my ISM University of Management and Economics masters' students well at the very least two things: dominant strategies in game theory and the importance of attending lectures. I managed to sneak in a Frank Herbert's Dune quote to my graduation speech, quite a good day, I'd say.

First thing I learned when starting to learn @sebastianbae.bsky.social Littoral Commander: The Baltic is that I need a larger table for work purposes 😅 And yes, you can count on that Baltic resistance.